Mixing faucet for showers and the like



L. V. FOSTER MIXING FAUCEJT FOR SHOWERS AND THE LIKE Filed March 27,1952 May 8, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 4W 7 m I May 8, 1956 v.FOSTER 2,744,542

MIXING FAUCET- FOR SHOWERS AND THE LIKE Filed March 27, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent FAUCET FOR suownns AND THE LIKE Lawrence V. Foster,East Liverpool, Ohio 7 Applic ion March 21, 1252, Serial No. erases 3Claims. (Cl. 131-63018 X The. Present. nvention re ates o a mining iauet. for

sho ers a d the l ke audit c nsist in th combina ions const uctions andarrangements of. p rts herein described and claimed. 1 j i I General yther is provided a mixing device whichis provided. wit a shaf ex e d ngrom each end o the casing enclos ng he same and. the turning of one fwhich shaft-s acts to adju th vol me oi he w ter ein mixed in he casinghich water is being ed. to the cas n: by a pair o .v P pe on of whichconta ns. co d water and he other of wh ch con a n ho wa er- The othshaft is de igned t manip la certain mechani ms withing he ca ng w ichntrol the. empera ure of. he ter b in so mix d Th d vice c ntains manynovel feat re hich will be br ugh for h i the annexed speci iication, I

It is. a cordingly an object of the in en ion o provide adevlce f theharac r se forth. which s compara i ely simple in construction, relativey nexp nsive to menu iactur and y t effec i e and eflicien in u e.

Another obj ct of. the invention is o prov de a device of: the charac ere tor-tn which is. P o ided wi h me n icr con rolling he lu e of t e warilo ng here from a d means for regu ating h emperature, f thewaterfiowing the e om. o h means forming parts of the invention.

Another objec the. inven ion s t e p ovisiomin a device of. the hara teet o th, o ,ano el alve operated mechanism form part of the in enti n! Oher nd furtherjec of the inven ion will ecome apparent from a reading ofthe fo o ing p cification taken in conjunc ion with. the dr w ngs, inwhich:

Figure l is a vertical l ngi udina s ct onal view, partly in elevation.f n mbod ment f the uiv ntiou,

Fig re 2 is a l ngitudin l hori ontal sectional view I theruolf,v

Figure 3 is a se ional vi w ken al ng the line 3+3 of. Figure Figure 4is a sec ional view taken along li i -4 of. Figure 2..

Refe ing mor part cula ly t t drawings. here. is sho n herei a casing 1h y g a a ng 2 mo nted in on end thereof and held in p t o y m an of anut? Thr ugh the ther end of the casing 1 exte ds. a sha t 4, which i hed in plac by m an of a r ta ner 5 which is' hrea ed on to the ca ing 1and which afigrds space for p ki nd is th ded to re eiv a pac ins-nut 6.Adjacen that nd of th c si g 1. havi g the nut 6 the eon is a hot waterinl t Pipe 7 which l ad to aninlct por 8. with a sea do i hin the casing1- vWithin the other end f. h cas ng 1 her i pr vided a pair of annulars a s 9 nd 0, a rubber washer 42 whiclrforms part of seat 10 and a coldwater intak pipe 11. Within the casin 1 there. is provided a pair of lngitudinally extending ay 12 and 13. I The cast: ing Ais adapted to. fitsea s 9 and 1.0 and h s two pro ieetions. 14 and 1 adapted to p ojecinto the ways 12 and 13, respectively. These projections are for thepurpose of holding the casting 2 in its correct position with relationto the casing 1. Maintaining this position is desirable because coldwater enters through the intake pipe 11 which is in the casing 1 andmerges from the pipe 11 between the seats 9 and 10 and then enters anopening 16 in the casting 2 and passes through the casting 2 until itemerges from the cold water port .17 and seat 17a.

A shaft 18 extends through the casting 2 and. is held in place by aretainer 19 which is threaded to the casting 2 and which afiords spacefor packing and is threaded to receive a packing nut 20.

Within the casing 1 there is provided a screw shaft 21 on which isthreaded washer mounts 22 and 23. There is also provided a screw shaft24 on whi h is threaded an adjusting nut 25.. The s rew shaft 24 isconnected to the shaft 21 by means. of a yoke 27 which is held clampedover a flange 26 carried by the shaft 21 by means of screw 28,. .Arubber washer 29. is tached to washer mount. 2.2 by means of a screw 30while a' 'ubber washer 31 is attache o washer mount 23 by means of ascrew 32.

The, adjusting nut 25 has two lugs 33 between which is p itioned one endof a ribb n spring 34. th o her end of such spring being secured to thecasing 1- bY means of a screw 35.

The shaft 21 has two sets of threads one of which is left-handed while.the other is right-handed so that the wash r mounts will moved in oppo tdirections when the shaft 18 is turned. The. righ -hand threa s arelarger than he lef -hand. thread f r a s m l ng nd di assemblingpurposes.

At one end of he screw sh ft 21 is loca d a quare holed shoulder 36which slides on a square hank 37 which is on the inner nd of the haft 1.A one end. of the haft 24 is square holed shoulder 38 w ich s slidable.upon a square shank. 39 formed upon the inner end of the shaft. 4.

The entire inside mechani m f he. device ride on the. projections uponthe wash r m unt 22 and 2. which ride in the w ys 12. nd 13. The p siion f he in ide mechani m in. rel tion o int k p ts 8 and 17 idetermined by the ribbon spr ng 3 n yn haust Pipe 41 lead to a bathtubfaucet t hown) In operation, i wil be pparent ha when the. shaf 4 isturned clockw se t ai he emp rat re whi e o lower the emperatur of th atr pa sing through the device it is neces y to turn h h f 4 in a coun erclockwise direct on.

Upon urni g o the fau et, th shaft 18 urns th q are shank 37 whi h, intu n, u n h sq are holed shoulder 36. This acti n urns the sc ew sha t21 her by c us n he washer mounts 22 an 23 o rnove in oppositedirections to ard. on anoth r d w y fr m th n a P ts 8 and. 17 thus a lwing o water to f o in hroug sa P r s ft r a d sired volume is att ined,mp ature of he W ter is adj s by turning the shaft 4 clockwise to raisethe temperature and counterclockwise to lowerthe same. In tempering thewat r, shaf 4 t rns h quare shan 39 whic aetuates the square. ho dshould r 38. u ing the ha t 24 to u nr w sh ft 24 is t readed. hroughjus ing nu 25 hich is held in o p si i n n relation o the mai casing bymeans of a strong positioning spring 34 at tached to the casing by meansof screw 35. The shaft 24 is attached to the screw shaft 21 by means ofthe yoke 2. r w 28 nd flang 6 th form n a s i el ioin h fore, wh n s r whaf 24 is t rn d, since the nut 25 is held rigidly by sprin 34, it mustmov through the nu 25 hus moving the shaft 21 which, in. turn, causesthe. wash r mounts .22. and 23 to slide in the ways 12 and 13 toward oneintake port and away from the other thereby decreasing the flow of waterfrom one port and increasing the fiow of water from the other port,either raising or lowering the combined temperatures of the waterpassing through the device. The faucet may then be turned ofi by turningthe shaft 18 clockwise until the washer mounts 22 and 23 move washers 29and 31 against the ports 8 and 17 causing the flow of water to stop.During this operation the tempering shaft 4 is not moved. The faucet maythen be turned on again by turning the shaft 18 counterclockwisely untilthe desired volume is attained and the spring 34 will return thetemperature setting to that last used automatically and without touchingthe shaft 4.

By removing nut 3, casting 2 and screw 35, in that order, the entireinside mechanism may then be pulled out of casing 1 making all partseasily accessible for repairs.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein,it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that minormodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A hot and cold water mixing device of the character describedcomprising a casing having in its inner wall two longitudinallyextending ways at either end of which is located an intake portconnected to hot and cold water lines respectively and an exhaust port,said intake ports having seats, two valve members which ride in saidways engaging and disengaging the seats of said intake ports, a shaftdisposed longitudinally of said casing, a stem extending through one endof said casing, means including said stem for rotating said shaft forsimultaneously moving said valves in opposite directions away from saidintake ports toward one-another for opening or vice versa for closingboth of said valves at one time thereby controlling the combined volumeof flow from said intake ports, said shaft being provided with twooppositely threaded portions, said valves threaded to said threadedportions, said shaft slip jointly connected to said stem, a second shaftdisposed longitudinally of said casing and swivelly connected to saidfirst mentioned shaft, a second stem slip jointly connected to saidsecond mentioned shaft and extending through the other end of saidcasing, said second mentioned shaft having a threaded portion, a collarthreaded to said threaded portion of said second shaft, said collarhaving a projection extending into one of said ways, said waysco-operating with said valves and said collar preventing said valves andsaid collar from rotating with their respective actuating shafts, apositioning spring interconnecting said collar and said casing, one endof said positioning spring being rigidly attached to said casing whilethe other or moveable end is positioned between two lugs projecting fromsaid collar, other means including said second stem for rotating saidsecond shaft for simultaneously moving said valves in a common directiontoward one of said intake ports and away from the other of said intakeports hence gradually increasing to full the volume of flow from one ofsaid intake ports while decreasing to the same degree the volume of flowfrom the other of said intake ports or vice versa without affecting thecombined volume of flow from said intake ports, said second mentionedmeans being operated independently of first mentioned means, when saidvalves are away from said seats the elastic force of said positioningspring holds said collar motionless causing said second shaft whenrotated to move through said collar thereby moving said valves in unisontoward one of said intake ports and away from the other of said intakeports or vice versa, when moving both of said valves against their seatsby rotation of first mentioned shaft and when one or the other of saidvalves reaches its seat first the elastic force in said positioningspring yields to the actuating force allowing said collar to move towardthe unseated valve permitting said unseated valve to seat also uponfurther actuation of said first means, when both of said valves aremoved away from said seats by rotation of said first shaft or when thedevice is turned on the stored elastic force in the depressedpositioning spring is released thereby automatically repositioning saidvalves between said intake ports in such a manner that the individualvolume of fiow from each individual said intake port is identical to theindividual volume of flow being emitted therefrom when the device waslast turned off, said automatic readjustment occurring when said valvesare moved away from said seats by first mentioned means to a positionbetween said intake ports where the combined volume of flow from saidintake ports is equal to the combined volume of flow being emittedtherefrom before said valves were last moved into contact with saidseats to stop all flow therefrom;

2. In a hot and cold water mixing device of the character describedconsisting in the combination of, a casing having in its inner wall twolongitudinally extending ways at either end of which is located anintake port connected to hot and cold water lines respectively and anexhaust port, a floating mechanism which rides in said ways, saidfloating mechanism comprised of a shaft disposed longitudinally of saidcasing onto which is threaded two valve members which engage anddisengage said intake ports and yet a second shaft swivelly connected tothe first mentioned shaft and a collar threaded to said second shaft,said first shaft having two oppositely threaded portions, said valvesthreaded to said threaded portions, a stem extending through one end ofsaid casing as means for rotating said first mentioned shaft forsimultaneously moving said valves in opposite directions toward thecenter of said floating mechanism and away from both of said intakeports hence gradually increasing from nothing to full or any portionthereof the combined volume of flow from said intake ports or vice versafor decreasing the combined volume of flow from said intake ports, asecond stem extending through the other end of said casing as othermeans for rotating said second mentioned shaft for moving said floatingmechanism in unison with said valves toward one of said intake ports andaway from the other of said intake ports thereby increasing the volumeof flow from one of said intake ports to full or any portion thereofwhile decreasing to an equal degree the volume of flow from the other ofsaid intake ports or vice versa without affecting the combined volume offlow passing through the device, said second means operatedindependently of said first means, said collar having a portionprojecting into one of said ways, said ways co-operating with saidvalves and said collar preventing said valves and said collar fromrotating with their respective actuating shafts,

a positioning spring interconnecting said collar and said casing, oneend of said positioning spring being rigidly attached to said casingwhile the other or moveable end is positioned between two lugsprojecting from said collar, when said valves are away from said seatsthe elastic force of said positioning spring holds said collarmotionless causing said second shaft when rotated to move through saidcollar thereby moving said valves in unison toward one of said intakeports and away from the other of said intake ports or vice versa hencedecreasing the volume of flow from one of said intake ports whileincreasing to a like degree the volume of flow from the other saidintake ports, when moving both of said valves against their seats byrotation of first mentioned shaft and when one or the other of saidvalves reaches its seat first the elastic force in said positioningspring yields to the actuating force allowing said collar to move towardthe unseated valve permitting said unseated valve to seat also thusturning the device off, when both of said valves are moved away fromsaid seats by rotation of said first shaft or when the device is turnedon the stored elastic force in the depressed positioning spring isreleased thereby automatically repositioning said valves between saidintake ports in such a manner that the individual volume of flow fromeach individual said intake port is identical to the individual volumeof flow being emitted therefrom when the device was last turned off,said automatic readjust- I ment occuring when said valves are moved awayfrom said seats by first mentioned means to a position between saidintake ports where the combined volume of flow from said intake ports isequal to the combined volume of flow being emitted therefrom before saidvalves were last moved into contact with said seats to stop all flowtherefrom.

3. In a hot and cold water mixing device of the character describedconsisting in the combination of, a casing having in its inner wall twolongitudinally extending ways at either end of which is located anintake port connected to hot and cold water lines respectively and anexhaust port, two valve members which ride in said Ways engaging anddisengaging the seats of said intake ports, a shaft disposedlongitudinally of said casing, said shaft being provided with twooppositely threaded portions, said valves threaded to said threadedportions, a stem slip jointly connected to the outer end of said shaftand extending through one end of said casing, a second shaft disposedlongitudinally of said casing and swivelly connected to and abutting theinner end of said first shaft, a second stem slip jointly connected tothe outer end of said second shaft and extending through the other endof said casing, said second shaft being provided with a threadedportion, a collar threaded to said threaded portion of said secondshaft, a portion of said collarprojecting into one of said ways, saidways co-operating with said valves and said collar preventing saidvalves and said collar from rotating with said first and second shaftsrespectively, a positioning spring interconnecting said collar and saidcasing, one end of said positioning spring being rigidly attached tosaid casing while the other or moveable end is positioned between twolugs projecting from said collar, means including said first mentionedstem for rotating said first mentioned shaft thereby moving said valvesaway from said intake ports and toward one-another simultaneouslyopening both of said valves to any degree or vice versa for closing saidvalves thus controlling the combined volume of flow from saidintakeports, other means including said second stem for rotating said secondmentioned shaft causing said second shaft to move through said collarwhich is held motionless by said positioning spring thereby moving saidvalves in unison away from one of said intake ports and toward the otherof said intake ports hence increasing the volume of flow from one ofsaid intake ports to full flow or any portion thereof while decreasingto a like degree the volume of flow from the other of said intake portsor vice versa without affecting the combined volume of flow from saidintake ports to the exhaust port, said second means operatedindependently of said first means, said positioning spring functioningto hold said valves in any position selected by said second meansrelative to said intake ports, said positioning spring, furtherfunctioning when said valves are moved toward said seats by first meansand when one or the other of said valves reaches its seat 7 first theelastic force in said positioning spring yields to the actuating forceallowing said collar to move toward the unseated valve permitting saidunseated valve to reach its seat also hence turning the device off, saidpositioning spring still further functioning when both of said valvesare moved away from their seats by rotation of said first shaft or whenthe device is turned on the stored elastic force in the depressedpositioning spring is released thereby automatically repositioning saidvalves between said intake ports in such a manner that the individualvolume of flow from each individual said intake port is identical to theindividual volume of flow being emitted therefrom 1 when the device waslast turned ofi, said automatic readjustment occurring when said valvesare moved away from/said seats by first mentioned means to a positionbetween said intake ports where the combined volume of flow from both ofsaid intake ports is equal to the combined volume of flow being emittedtherefrom before said valves were last moved into contact with saidseats to stop all flow therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS517,386 France Dec. 17, 1920

